One in five high school boys and 11% of schoolkids overall have received an ADHD diagnosis, according to new data from the CDC. The data also shows two-thirds of children diagnosed with ADHD are prescribed stimulants like Adderall (above) and Ritalin. About 6.4 million children have received an ADHD diagnosis at some point  an increase of 16% since 2007 and 53% in the past decade.

One in five high school boys and 11% of all schoolkids in the U.S. have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two-thirds of kids who are diagnosed are prescribed stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin, the data also showed.

The findings come from a cellphone and landline survey of more than 76,000 parents between February 2011 and June 2012.

ADHD is characterized by difficulty paying attention, maintaining focus on tasks and controlling impulsive behaviors. Other symptoms include frequent daydreaming, squirming or fidgeting, and talking out of turn. It is usually diagnosed in childhood, though it can continue into adulthood, and boys are more frequently diagnosed than girls.

The American Psychiatric Association estimates in its current diagnostic manual that 3 to 7% of children have ADHD, though other studies have calculated higher rates. Children's health experts reacted to the new CDC data with surprise and concern.

Its a problem with the teachers not wanting to deal with run of the mill kids acting up behavior.
So lets drug them during their “Wonder Bread Years” and then when we take them off the drug they can become “Adam Lanzas”.

When we were assigned in Panama in the late ‘80s, the DoDDS school system in Panama employed a “prescriptionist”, who prescribed Ritalin for virtually every kid (read “boy”) who ever acted up or talked in class. My wife was a substitute teacher - she couldn’t believe how many boys in each class had to have their pills every day.

8
posted on 04/01/2013 11:59:25 AM PDT
by jagusafr
(the American Trinity (Liberty, In G0D We Trust, E Pluribus Unum))

It is a manufactured disease, and the CDC has no business tracking it, just like they do for spousal abuse as a disease, home weapons as a health danger, etc.

They are now under a program to publicize this because the government will be using ADHD and it’s prescriptions as a reason to deny one of these children the right to own a firearm when they get older.

O.K. I was in born in 1940. I cannot remember ANY of my fellow classmates that I would consider outside the “normal” range. I was aware of a few children with Downs Syndrome. I had a cousin with M.D.. I knew an adult neighbor that suffered from epilepsy. There was an elderly lady that lived a couple of miles away that would wander her neighborhood and talk to herself. By the time I got to high school, there were a couple of not too bright kids that had repeated a couple of classes. If they were ADHD, that would be a couple out of hundreds.

My question is to all the old teachers out there. Where did they hide all these ADHD kids back then?? That was pre airconditioning and in the South, they would never have survived living in the attics and we didn’t have basements.

When our son was in 3rd grade, the school counselor said he had ADD. As we were leaving that meeting, Mr. M asked how many kids were diagnosed with ADD. She said 49% of boys to which Mr. M replied, then its normal. We had hi tested. Seems he was gifted. Our son made it clear however that he would not be singled out and put in any program so we made him do extra work and kept on his case. He still fought regular school and now at 33 will tell you he probably was/is ADD. I diagnose it as genius with faint Aspergers and somewhat savant.

ADHD = Payment to parents from state or federal agencies for each ADHD child and lots of extra attention from school personnel (kindergarten through college). In college, for instance, you get (FREE) your own testing room, double or triple time for tests, a paid notetaker, and a professor (not a student) to tutor you, if you so request.

Exactly! Do not ever trust these people with your children. It is a bunch of bologna. There is no such thing as ADD or ADHD. It is unicorn for the communists who need to destory all that is good in the USA.

1. Food additives - glutamate for example. (AKA MSG among other names) Is used as a preservative in processed foods. But glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter. With the rise in processed food consumption, you cannot feed a child a steady diet of exogenous excitatory brain chemicals & expect them to sit still. Red food dye has been shown to have the same effect.

2. Lack of parenting. As another poster pointed out, some kids can sit for hours & play video games or stare at the TV, but when it comes to school, they aren’t made to apply themselves & be disciplined.

Our country is hosed.

25
posted on 04/01/2013 12:17:30 PM PDT
by surroundedbyblue
(Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)

What about those that need a C-section, because the child isn’t set correctly in the womb. My sister needed a C-section because she otherwise wouldn’t have come out by natural birth. Though in hindsight, would’ve been better off to call a stork for a return...

39
posted on 04/01/2013 12:33:31 PM PDT
by wastedyears
(I'm a gamer not because I choose to have no life, but because I choose to have many.)

Rename this “Lazy Parent Disease.” Way too many parents go along with these diagnoses to avoid having to deal with an active boy. If he’s doped up in front of the TV, its less the parent has to deal with.

40
posted on 04/01/2013 12:33:49 PM PDT
by Opinionated Blowhard
("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")

It’s a manufactured reason for not working at raising boys.
They tried this with my youngest son. I endured one day of him on that pill and threw them down the toilet. He was a bright, active, happy kid who required a lot of action to “wear him out”. I refused to make him a zombie. His teachers were not happy and he spent most of his elementary school years sitting in the hall. Fortunately, I homeschooled him before it was legal and he is extremely smart and successful, with his own little hyper child to “wear out” and make tired enough to sit sill. Exercise is survival for boys.

I have a firend who has a 13 year old that SUPPOSEDLY has ADHD. Although he SUPPOSEDLY cannot stay focused in the classroom he CAN and DOES spend hours playing video games.

I think you've unwittingly hit upon why boys today have a hard time focusing.... they're used to the quick, short attention span gaming that they've grown up on. How can a classroom even hope to capture their attention?

I don't game but my business is on the computer. And I've noticed that I have a much harder time focusing on reading a book now than I used to, which I could do for hours. My mind just keeps jumping away from it. Is it because on the computer you can jump from website to website and the brain "learns" to be impatient?

I don't know. But at 49 I notice a difference in myself. I wonder what it's doing to brains that are still growing and developing.

42
posted on 04/01/2013 12:36:44 PM PDT
by Lizavetta
(You get what you tolerate)

My son is ADHD, which is a diagnosis his school will never know about. We did not go through the diagnostic process for an IEP, crazy check (SSI check), or drugs. We work on his issues with positive reinforcement, eliminating his rituals, punishing misbehavior not due to his ADHD, and greatly altering his/our diets. We saw a great improvement when we eliminated dairy from his diet, for example. We also work closely with our chiropractor and naturopath specialist. Our son takes a high amount of a product called Neuromax (since ADHD is a neurological disorder), digestive enzymes, and probiotics. While he ate a pretty healthy diet to begin with, the occasional trips tp McD’s are over. We eat no processed foods or foods with HFCS, MSG, or artificial colors and flavorings. This means I make and can our stocks, roast meats to make sandwiches, and even make all of our tortillas! We eat much more like my grandparents did.

Also, my husband and I are married and he is the rock of our family. I gave birth to our son naturally and he never had a drop of formula. I also made all of his baby food. Our son receives different forms of discipline as needed, including corporal punishment. Both sets of his grandparents are married to their first spouses as well, and are a positive and loving presence on their grandson’s life. Not all ADHD cases are the same, so please don’t lump all situations into baby mama just doesn’t want to deal with it scenarios. To be honest, I used to think the same thing. Now with our experience with this precious guy, my feelings are quite different.

Bingo. I see it in my son. He can tell you every permutation of a game he is playing but “struggles” to remember to write down his homework or memorize multiplication tables or simple formulas like area or a circle.

When we were kids it was called “not paying attention” and were acted upon accordingly - not some new age moniker for drugging kids. If you got out of line you were put back in line swiftly.
My father was a school administrator and retired early (35 yr ago). He said at the time that changes were coming and they were NOT good ones so he opted out.
Discipline has been removed from the classroom - parents as well as teachers have been taken out of the authority loop.
There is hardly any local control concerning curriculum nowadays -

Just like the major league ball players who routinely took ‘greenies’, or amphetamines, in order to improve their performance a few decades ago. Except then, nobody went by the charade that if they improved their concentration and performance that meant they were ADHD, or that only those with ADHD were helped by them.

“but struggles to remember to write down his homework or memorize multiplication tables or simple formulas like area or a circle.”

Might I suggest you introduce him to computer programming? If he likes games, he might think it’s fun to design his own, and then he would need to learn the math in order to do that. Trick him into learning what he needs to learn, in order to learn what he wants to learn :)

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